The Bold, Brave Men of Archbold 1955: West Virginia

[SWC75]

In the days of old, when knights were bold
Every city had its warrior man.
In the days of new, when fights are few
You will view them from a big grandstand.
In our college town one has great renown
If the game of football he should play.
With his pig-skin ball he is cheered by all,
He's the Saltine Warrior of today.
The Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,
And his weapon is a pigskin ball,
When on the field he takes a good, firm stand,
He's the hero of large and small.
He will rush toward the goal with might and main
His opponents all fight, but they fight in vain,
Because the Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,
And victorious over all.

We are early in a new era in SU football- the Scot Shafer era. 64 years ago, another era began- the Ben Schwartzwalder Era, during which SU rose from its greatest depths to its greatest heights, and then all the way back down again. It was the era into which I was born, the one I remember from my youth. I can still recall listening to the games on the radio and waiting until Tuesday to see the grainy black and white films of the previous Saturday’s games on the local news. The music played over these highlights was not “Down, Down the Field”. It was “The Saltine Warrior”. My Dad thought he knew the beginning of it and would sing “The Saltine Warrior was a bold, brave man”. I later found that the line was “bold, bad, man”. But that’s not the way I learned it and it’s not the way I like it. My heroes were not “bad” men. They were “brave” men. They were the “Bold, Brave Men of Archbold”.

 

[SWC75]

THE BUILD-UP

Much of the talk early in the week was about how great the Colgate game had been. Jack Slattery of the Herald-Journal felt that it was time to pay tribute to both teams:

“Before the football season started Syracuse was selected by the experts, (there are other names for them but I’ll stick to the word ‘expert’), to win one game. They won one- and then some. If they had had a game under their belt when they played Pittsburgh I honestly believe they would have been able to defeat the Panthers. And if they weren’t somewhat awe-stricken, I think they would have scared the daylights out of Maryland. (But not lick them.) And I believe they should have defeated Penn State.”

“Which brings us up to the Colgate game. I think the Red Raiders should have been defeated by three touchdowns. But they weren’t and not because of anything the Orange didn’t do. It was what the Raiders did. There is just one word to describe the Raider team on Saturday- magnificent. They were a superb team. Fired up and hard hitting as any team can be. Well coached and inspired. Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder called them “a great team”. He said Syracuse worked as hard to get the winning touchdown as it had worked all year. “

But Slattery was disappointed in the attitude in the Colgate locker room after the game: “I honestly mean it when I say that the visit to the Colgate locker room after the game spoiled the afternoon for me. The game itself was splendid. The loyalest of Colgate rooters, dejected in defeat, admitted that it was a wonderful ball game and that the Raiders had played their hearts out against a team superior to them. But to go into the dressing room and listen to youngsters sob and hear the coaches hand out abuse for the officials took all the joy out of the occasion.”

Slattery blamed it, not on the coaches themselves but on the pressure put on them by the alumni to win, especially in “rivalry” series like Syracuse-Colgate. “When a man spends thousands of dollars to send his son to college he hopes to have his boy influenced by the likes of a man like Hal Lahar. But when the alumni pressure to win one ball game becomes so great that it makes a man say things he now wished he’d never said it is time that the people who give out diplomas start taking a few back. “

Bill Reddy noted that Lahar claimed to have warned the officials before the game that “Syracuse holds all over the field.” Reddy said that “If he did that, he was taking an action which is not supposed to be permitted in intercollegiate football. No such pre game warnings are allowed under the collegiate code of ethics and, if the officials allowed such advance chatter they should be censured by the eastern commissioner, Asa Bushnell. The basis for such a complaint is hard to find…Observers at last week’s Penn State-Syracuse game thought the Orange got the worst of the officiating but it wasn’t permitted to become a sore point….Here is a fact which may seem unbelievable but it’s in the records. In six of Syracuse’s seven games, the Orange was not penalized once for illegal use of hands, which, of course, includes holding. Thus 24 different officials watched Syracuse in six games and didn’t assess a single holding penalty.”

Lahar for his part, issued this statement: “Evidently I have already done too much talking about the officials. No one man is big enough to cause a Syracuse-Colgate breach. I have a great deal of respect for Orange football. I’ve never been an official baiter but felt than an infraction should have been seen…I thought our kids deserved a tie and I was sore because they didn’t get it. ” No one man would end the Syracuse-Colgate series. But from here on the superiority of the Orange teams would make the end of our greatest rivalry inevitable.

The final opponent of the 1955 season was still another formidable one. West Virginia, under Art “Pappy” Lewis, (who had been the youngest head coach in NFL history when he coached the Cleveland Rams at age 27 in 1939), the Mountaineers had had quite a run. Lewis took over the program, which did not have sterling history in the sport. His first team went 2-8, his second 5-5 but his third broke through to 7-2 and they finished second in the then huge Southern Conference, which was about to give birth to the ACC. With the foundation of that conference in 1953, the ‘Neers dominated the SC, stretching their winning streak to 13 games before being upset by South Carolina of the ACC, 14-20. They finished 8-1 and were invited to the Sugar Bowl to play Georgia Tech, at that time a major national power under Coach Bobby Dodd. Just as Syracuse was not ready for Alabama the previous year, West Virginia was not ready for Georgia Tech, losing 19-42 in a game that wasn’t that close.
http://www.allstatesugarbowl.org/site147.php

They came back just as strong the next year, again going 8-1. The two frustrations were that the one loss was to arch-rival Pittsburgh by only 3 points, 10-13 and, after the poor showing against the Yellow Jackets, they got no bowl invitation, (which tells us what would have happened to the 1953 Orangemen if they’d won their tie game and their three losses by a total of 14 points: they weren’t going where after the Alabama disaster no matter what they did).

The Mounties had another strong team in 1955, winning their first seven games, including a third straight victory over Penn State. They then had a chance for revenge against Pittsburgh. But it just wasn’t heir day and Pitt rolled to a 26-0 lead. West Virginia scored on the game’s last play but the Pitt fans, (like the SU fans vs. Colgate), had destroyed the goal posts so no conversion could be attempted. They could have run a play for it but instead, the Pitt coaching staff was gracious enough to concede the extra point, probably the only point in football history that was not the product of a play. Still, they were a strong 7-1 going into the Syracuse game and were 29-4 in their last 33 games. And the game was scheduled to be played in Morgantown. Ben Schwartzwalder said he was going back to West Virginia, where he had played “with reluctance because I know we’re in for trouble in Saturday’s game”.

One of the reasons they might be in trouble was that starting Quarterback Eddie Albright was questionable for the game. He had been hurt in a pile-up in the Colgate game, so badly they were taking him off the field on a stretcher. But he got up from the stretcher and insisted on leaving under his own power. Fortunately, Syracuse had depth and it was argued that their greater depth, and Schwartzwalder’s use of it in rotating his players, enabled them to outlast the Red Raiders and put on that long grinding drive, that won the game. X-rays were negative but Albright still had “back and hip bruises”. Then it was revealed that back-up quarterback Ferdie, (aka Fred) Kuzala was also injured, having hurt his shoulder in the Colgate game. Even the third string quarterback, Lou Iannicello, “was not at his best”. Nonetheless Schwartzwalder stated that he had plans to throw the ball more vs. West Virginia, due to the size of West Virginia’s line, (220 pounds per man, 15 more than Syracuse’s). But who would do the throwing?

Rocky Pirro had scouted the Mountaineers vs. Pitt and said that a key play came when West Virginia quarterback Fred Wyant was clipped and injured his knee. He came back in the game but couldn’t run an option play with the required speed, got hit and fumbled, leading to a Pittsburgh score. Wyant missed most of the second half. Arnie Burdick asked Pappy Lewis about this in a phone news conference and Lewis insisted that Wyant was fine and would be ready for the Syracuse game. He claimed Wyant had a “bumped shin”. Pirro noted that it wasn’t his shin that was wrapped up when he came back in. Schwartzwalder picked up on this and referred to all of his injured players as having “bumped shins”. On Saturday it was revealed that Wyant had torn ligaments and would miss the game, being replaced by his back-up, Mickey Trimarki.

Lewis claimed that his team was better than the Sugar Bowl team and attributed this to his two splendid 225 pound tackles, Bruce Bosley, (who played for the 49ers for 13 years) and Sam Huff, (future New York Giant legend). Pirro agreed: “Maryland didn’t have a lineman on its team that can play with either of those fellows.” That included Bob Pellegrini, the Terp’s All-American tackle. The paper had a picture of Huff yelling at the camera in a posed shot. Unfortunately guard Chuck Howley, (later a linebacker for the Cowboys for 13 years), had a sprained ankle).

Lewis was concerned about his team fumbling too much. They’d lost four in a narrow 13-7 over Gorge Washington and three more vs. Pitt. They were running some anti-fumbling drills. They’d also “passed too much”, completing only 4 of 23 against the Panthers.

The Mountaineers had the nation’s most productive offense with 407 yards per game. They had the sixth best rushing attack with 266 yards per game and the seventh best passing attack with 142 yards per game. 194lb Bob Moss was the 9th most prolific runner in the country with 598 yards, (Jim Brown was #14 with 550 but had played one less game: his average per game was better with 79 vs. 75). 218lb Fullback Joe Marconi seemed to have a bright future. Behind them was the team’s fastest player, Vic “Jack” Rabbits, who was behind Moss and Marconi only because of his size, (162 pounds). Rabbitts was averaging an incredible 9.3 yards per carry on only 38 attempts. Included in his total was a 99 yard TD scamper vs. VMI. He was also averaging 50 yards a punt return- on two returns, both for scores.

“Lewis had been quoted last week as favoring an eastern independent conference, long a cherished project in the area and he was asked about that idea again. “I sure wish there was an eastern independent conference and I’d like to see our team in it.” Asked what teams he’d like to see in an eastern independent conference besides West Virginia, Lewis named Pitt, Penn State, Syracuse, Colgate and added “a couple of others to round it out.” Another article said that Miami and Houston were being considered for admission into the SEC.

A picture in Wednesday’s Post Standard showed two Syracuse University players, in full uniform, being sworn in to the Army Reserves by Lt. Colonel Ben Schwartzwalder, in his coach’s outfit. The players are Jim Ridlon and Joe Rose. The next day there was a small article about former Orangeman Avatus Stone being named MVP of the CFL. He was playing for the Ottawa Rough Riders.

Bill Reddy complained, “We’ve reached the ‘traditional rivalry’ stage in college football and we’ve also reached the stage in which teams like Syracuse and West Virginia which have played only twice before are ending a season with no trophy, no jug and no beanpot at stake.” Lirtle did he know that the teams would be playing for the next 58 years in row and that someday they would be playing for the “Schwartzwalder Trophy”. He said there had been a lot of discussion over whether the Mountaineers would be ‘up’ or ‘down’ after their disappointing performance against Pittsburgh and whether either team would be ‘up’ after playing their big rival. “So which team is likely to be ‘up’? It’s only in the ‘big ones’ that you can be fairly certain that both of them will be ‘up’. I’ll be surprised if Syracuse wins this one. It will be a pleasant surprise to be sure but I’m not going to Morgantown expecting to see a victory.”

Tuesday’s paper had an article outlining the increased popularity of Orange football, based on attendance figures. It had number for the previous four years, (more specific than listed in the current SU Media Guide). The 1952 SU team totaled 125,519 paid attendance for 6 whole games, an average of 20,920. The 1953 team played for home games and drew 94,616, an average of 23,654. In 1954 it was 90,889/22,722.25. In 1955 attendance grew to 105,946, an average of 26,487 per game. The Pittsburgh game had drawn only 16,896 but it was on TV. The Boston U. game was 17,176 but the opponent wasn’t all that attractive. The Maryland game was 32,410 against one of the top teams in the country. The Colgate game had set an all-time Archbold Stadium record with 39,464. In addition, on the road, Syracuse had sold out the Army game, (which only drew 10,000 in actual attendance due to the horrible weather), the Holy Cross and the Penn State game. 22,000 were expected in Morgantown for the West Virginia game. Syracuse was becoming “New York State’s College Team”. The TV money was also beginning to come in, $15,000 for the Pittsburgh game and $10,000 from the Penn State game. The attendance and dollar numbers in those days would be considered pitiful now but they were big news in 1955.

It was the first time Schwartzwalder would face his alma mater as a coach and the first time Syracuse played them since 1946, when the Orange had lost in Morgantown, 0-13 after winning the previous year in Archbold, 12-0, the only two prior games in the series. Little did anyone know that the two schools would play each other each year for the next 58 seasons. (And it’s a shame that the Mountaineers aren’t going to join us in the ACC, where they could be re-united with not only their old Big East rivals but also their ancient Southern Conference foes who left to form the ACC back in the day). Syracuse would be flying to this game- sort of. They’d fly to Pittsburgh and then take a bus to Morgantown. It was “Mountaineer Day”. Male students had been growing beards and would be given coonskin caps to wear at the game. “Coeds will be in feminine Mountaineer attire”. Whatever that was. http://superitch.com/images/2010/02/daisymae.jpg

Oscar Fraley, (later the author of “The Untouchables”) had a column in the Herald-Journal predicting games and figured West Virginia would win this game in “The big bounce back”. Will Grimsley had a similar column in the Post Standard and also picked West Virginia, (he used a specific score: 14-21), for the same reason. That was the consensus of the oddsmakers- West Virginia was a 7 point favorite. The entire officiating crew would be provided by the Southern Conference, adding to the concern.

But someone had other ideas. A letter was sent to Lewis sating “Art: This is to warn you that unless you want something terrible to happen to you and your team don’t beat Syracuse next Saturday. This is not a ‘crank’ letter and we are well enough organized to make you feel very sorry if you fail to heed our warning. DON’T CRY TO CROSS US PAPPY AS WE WILL HAVE SOMEONE THERE WATCHING EVERYTHING.” The letter was mailed from Newark New Jersey. (Coach Bill Murray of Duke got a similar letter, also from Newark, about his game with Wake Forest.) Lewis’ comment: They sure picked a fine day. Everyone in the stands will be toting rifles with it being Mountaineer day.”

 

[SWC75]

THE GAME

“Coach Ben Schwartzwalder came back to his alma mater today and was carried off the field in triumph as an underdog bunch of battlers overcame bad breaks to come from behind and give Syracuse a 20-13 victory over highly-rated West Virginia on snow-swept Mountaineer Field today … So furious was the Orange second half rally that the Mountaineers were held without a single first down through the third quarter and made only one first down, two minutes form the end through the entire second half… The Mountaineers who had been leading the nation in total offense, , were held to total of five yards rushing and 10 yards passing in the whole second half.”

“It took rare courage for the men of Schwartzwalder to keep battling because two apparent touchdowns were called back against Syracuse and the Southern Conference officials 95 yards in penalties against the Orange while accessing 24 yards against the Mountaineers.” Ben got called for a 15 yard penalty himself when he entered the field of play to protest a call. The series with West Virginia, famous for controversies, was off to a good start.

“Overnight snow made the field heavy and light snow fell throughout the game. Even so the crowd was estimated at 22,000 with fans sitting in snow piled in the concrete seats. …The Mountaineers played their first game in four seasons without without their great quarterback Freddie Wyant, who was hurt in the Pitt game last week. Timarki ran the team well but the Orange kept constant pressure on the sophomore signal caller. “

“The jubilant Orangemen were so delighted at their hard-won triumph that they refused to worry about getting home. They were slated for a 70 mile bus ride to Pittsburgh and were booked to take a plane from there to Syracuse. If they went according to schedule they were due home about 11PM tonight. However, the weather was so miserable with mists hanging low over the Blue Ridge Mountains, that it was questionable a plane could take off from Pittsburgh. If, as reported Pittsburgh ‘locked in’ it might mean that the Syracuse group would have to finish the trip by train, arriving sometime Sunday afternoon.” Those words were printed, obviously, in anticipation that a crowd of supporters could be expected to greet the team after such a big upset.

“The Orange hit paydirt on its second play from scrimmage but it didn’t count. Jimmy Brown electrified the crowd when he took (Sam) Huff’s kickoff on his own 10 and ran it 71 Yards to the Mountaineer 19. (Huff provides some backstory on this play in this article: http://timeswv.com/wvu_sports/x2056569580/HERTZEL-COLUMN-Orange-up-there-with-biggest-rivals/print )
Brown, after barreling through the defenders at the Syracuse 35 but he hit a muddy spot at midfield where the home team had drilled briefly before the game. The slip threw him offside and he was pushed out of bounds at the 19. After Laacksonen hit for 3, Brown cut off tackle found daylight and raced to the end zone. However the touchdown was nullified because Syracuse was penalized for holding. A pass interference penalty gave the Orange a first down on the 22 and Laacksonen and Brown picked up another first down in two smashes. Micho tripped when he tried to go wide. Brown picked up 4 and on third down Albright tried to pass. He was and tackled on the 21 by Bosley, a loss of 13 yards. A fourth down pass was knocked down in the end zone.

After an exchange of punts, Bob Moss bolted for 35 yards but that drive was ended when Pete Schwert recovered a fumbled pitch-out on the SU 28. After another Syracuse punt, Moss broke through again and kept running until Ed Ackley caught him from behind at the 6 after a 64 yard run. On third down, Trimarki pitched out to fullback Joe Marconi. (who later played for the Rams and Bears: I had a football card of him), who “swept wide to his left for the touchdown. Ted Warholak broke through to block Ted Holmes’ conversion attempt to keep it 0-6.

After another exchange of punts another Trimarki pitch-out went awry and Don Althouse recorded at the Mountaineer 38. A “pop” pass from Albright to Althouse got 12 yards. The Post-Standard provided this sentence: “A four yard penalty against Mountaineers, who were offside, helped Brown make it a first down on the 9.” OK. A sweep by Brown got it to within inches of the goal and Albright, (who was apparently OK), poked it over from there on a quarterback sneak. “Brown, getting his kick away slowly, had it blocked by Ton Huston to leave it at 6-6 at 9:31 at the period. “ Getting kicks off cleanly was a chronic problem in those days, (and would come back to haunt the Orange the following year).

West Virginia now went to the air with Trimarki finding Ralph Anastasio for 23 yards. Anastasio “dodged” for 18 yards. On fourth down Trimarki again looked for Anastasio. “The Orange failed to rush the passer. Trimarki had time enough to spot his receiver and he fired a touchdown pass to Anastasio who seemed to be covered but managed to catch the ball anyway.” This time Huff booted the ball through the uprights and the home team had a 6-13 lead, which became the halftime margin.

Syracuse forced West Virginia to punt after they received the second half kick-off but the Orange could get only one first down. They again forced a Mountaineer punt. And Billy Micho returned it 14 yards to the Neer’s 48. “From there, on third down, Albright passed to Ridlon, who caught the ball on the Mountaineer 20. He was covered by two men. But the Orange end faked them so skillfully that they ran into each other and Ridlon, cutting away from the sidelines, raced the rest of the way to score. “ Brown kicked the PAT to tie the game at 13-13.

On the first play after the kick-off, Moss fumbled and Brown recovered on the W Va. 46. Syracuse drove to the 18 on runs by Brown and Zaso and another pop pass to Althouse. A delay of game pushed the Orange back and “on 3rd down with 13 yards to go, Albright fad the pop pass, then waited until Althouse got clear. Don caught the ball at the 5 and then dived into the end zone with the ball in his arms. An official ruled the pass incomplete, however, and, after Schwartzwalder was penalized for complaining about it, the ball was “marched all the way back to the 40”. Althouse kicked a “coffin corner” punt, the ball going out on the 1 yard line. Marconi punted it back to get it out of danger, with the Orange taking over at the 45.

Syracuse went to its big gun. Jim Brown ran for 11 yards and then for 7. Laacksonen was the change of pace and got 5 yards up the middle. Three more Brown carries got the ball to the 11. “Micho took a pitch-out and carried it to the 3 but the play was called back and Syracuse penalized five yards because the officials ruled that Albright had thrown the ball forward instead of laterally on the play. Again, Albright faked the pop pass, drew in the Mountaineer defenders and the spotted (Dick) Lasse at the goal line. As he was about to catch it, two Mountaineers converged on him, but Lasse leaped and came down with the ball for the winning tally.” Brown kicked the point to make it Syracuse 20, West Virginia 13. The scoring was over but not the game. There were still 11 minutes to play.

But now SU took over the game on defense, forcing consecutive 3 and outs. Jim Brown got another good return, for 24 yards but 20 yards in penalties forced another punt. West Virginia had one more shot. “With 1:53 left Trimarki completed a 10 yard pass to Gary Bunn for the Mountaineers only first down of the second half. Bill Brown, who had been laid low with an upset stomach before the game, rose up to snuff out the Mountie’s final chance by intercepting Trimarki’s pass at the West Virginia 43. “Albright wisely kept the ball himself until time ran out.” Someone in Newark, New Jersey was happy but not for long. Duke beat Wake Forest 14-0.

Syracuse outgained West Virginia, who had been averaging n 407 yards per game, by 234-208 and had 12 first downs to 8. Bob Moss, with his two long runs, was the game’s leading rusher with 124 yards on 11 carries. Jim Brown ran for 86 yards on 21 carries but also had 102 yards in kick returns. But maybe the big hero was Eddie Albright, playing hurt in his last game and running for one score and passing for two others, including the winner, thus accounting for all of SU’s scoring except for Brown’s place-kicks. (We’ll never know what the result might have been if Freddie Wyant could have played for West Virginia.)

The photographic coverage was more limited than the Colgate game and the quality of the pictures was poor, due to the weather and the rather primitive copying technology for the Post Standard archive.

On the front page of the Post Standard, Dick Lasse is show leaping at the goal line to make the winning catch, Joe Marconi reaching toward him and Mickey Timarki lying on the ground at his feet. The ball is just beyond Marco0ni’s reach. It’s hard to make it out but obviously Lasse’s hands must be grasping it or about to. His body seems to be perpendicular to Marconi’s and turning away from him, as if Dick had to reach back for the ball. On the front of the sports page, Billy Micho is shown on a four yard sweep during the winning drive, (presumably the one that was called back). Below that was a shot captioned “BROWN ON THE MOVE: Syracuse’s ground attack in its conquest of West Virginia was led in spectacular fashion by halfback Jimmy brown. Here he is under a full head of steam for a sizeable gain.” Jim, in a very muddy uniform, has the ball cradled in his left hand, looking to his right. The specific play is not identified.

Two ages later, “Cal Smith, Orange guard, is shown Joe Marconi, Mountaineer’s right halfback, for a six yard loss in the third quarter. ”Marconi is moving forward, toward the line of scrimmage, with an Orange lineman waiting for him, bracing for impact. But Smith has come up from behind Marconi and has his arms around Joe’s waist. Next to that shot, Mickey Trimarki is thrown of a fourth quarter loss by an unidentified Orangeman and Dick Lasse comes up to finish the play off. Below that is a shot of Ralph Anastasio leaping into the line for no gain over the caption “HITS STONE WALL”. This one was won primarily on defense.

The Herald-American repeated the Micho shot, (All these were AP Wirephotos). On a pictorial page, they repeat the Lasse shot and also have the Jim Brown and Anastasio shots but switch the captions, saying the brown shot is Anastasio being held for no gain and the Anastasio shot is Brown gaining yardage. They also have Timarki being thrown for a loss. But they also have Anastasio running for 15 yards past a blocked Jim Ridlon amd Anastasio picking up 3 yards.

Highlights of the 1955 Syracuse-West Virginia game are in this U-Tube clip at the 33:40-35:34 mark.
You can also see the strange ending of the West Virginia-Pitt game just before that. West Virginia’s colors were “Old Gold” and Blue. They wore all gold uniforms with blue numbers and trim, both at home and on the road, until the Syracuse game when they switched to blue jerseys, (which they also wore for their final game vs. NC State). Here are the plays shown:
- Bob Moss’s 64 yard run. Note how Ed Ackley misses a tackle just beyond the line of scrimmage but stays with the play and runs down Moss from behind at the 6. You never know what you can do if you keep playing until the whistle.
- Marconi goes over for the score.
- The second fumbled pitch which was recovered by Don Althouse at the West Virginia 38.
- The pop pass from Albright to Althouse(an alliterative combination), during the first SU scoring drive.
- Jim Brown’s sweep to inside the one.
- Albright goes over for the first score.
- #39, (I think it’s Laacksonen- Upperdeck’s site is down) makes a short run and then Jimmy Brown makes a longer one.
- Then comes Albright’s fake pop pass and the floater into the end zone that Lasse leaps to catch for the winner. The picture in the paper was bit deceiving. It was taken from the back of the end zone and Lasse is not over the goal line but behind it, in the end zone.

It was a cold, wet, muddy but splendid way to end Ben Schwartzwalder’s 7th season at the Syracuse helm. The 1955 Syracuse team had taken on 8 opponents, 7 of them with winning records, and who had a combined regular season record of 50 wins and 25 losses, (Pittsburgh would lose 0-7 to Georgia Tech in the Sugar Bowl while Maryland would lose 6-20 to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl). Against that schedule we had gone 5-3, including a 1 point loss to Penn State after we had a 20-7 lead. That was our only road loss in four games. We’d outscored the opposition 180-130 ((22.5-16.25). It created a great deal of optimism as to what might happen in 1956. We were on the verge of the Big-Time.